this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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Calculatable (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 402 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

CE is Clear Entry. If you want to hit 2 x 4, but accidentally press 2 x 44, you can press the CE button before pressing = to clear the 44 but not the "2 x" part.

C will clear all of it so you can start over at the beginning.

Pressing CE twice may or may not clear entries in reverse order, depending on you calculator model.

[–] [email protected] 328 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So you're saying mash both a bunch of times to be super sure?

[–] [email protected] 107 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Calculators are similar to a Dark Souls game. You always restart from the beginning.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Calculators are similar to a Dark Souls game.

If that were true then mashing buttons on your calculator would prevent any inputs from being processed for a few seconds.

Fromsoft believes in punishing button-mashers.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 weeks ago

Unless it's Dark Souls 2 wherein you mash a couple buttons after being knocked down or rolling and manage to queue up your binoculars perfectly. This, in turn, allows you to get a really splendid look at your enemy's grimacing face as he shoves a rather vicious and often seriously pointy metal object up your ass. All the while you're frantically trying to roll away and accidentally toss back a flask. This manages to save you from an untimely demise until you notice that you backed up a little too much and that dude waiting to ambush took one last drag from his cigarette, flicked it away, and proceeded to club your head like he was Babe Ruth after a particularly hearty breakfast.

Then on the way back to your souls some asshole named "Forsworn" gets in your way. God only knows what his problem is.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

That explains so much…

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Oh, yeah I own that calculator. I bought it from amazon, it was an extremely cheap Scientific calculator with a gimmicky writing pad that tricked me into buying it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

...and may end with a shattered calculator.

[–] [email protected] 126 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

And in my mind "CE" is "Clear everything". I'm keeping OP's method

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

doesn't everyone know it stands for Celery Endives?

[–] [email protected] 63 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Problem is on some calculators C is clear all and CE is clear entry, on some C is clear entry and AC is clear all, and some have a C/AC or CE/C button where it’s press once to clear entry and press twice to clear all.

So it’s safest to mash unless you really know your calculator, because the industry can’t get its shit together, and that’s the sole reason it died (I’m assuming.)

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Why didn't they just make one Clear and make another Backspace? The concept of erasing the last character had been in typewriters for a while by then, and this is far more obvious. Maybe erasing a single digit in earlier software/hardware was much harder than just clearing it all?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago

Some do that, too. Unfortunately the weight of tradition seems to enforce the C/CE/AC key preference.

Even the iphone built in OS calculator has the “AC” button unless you manually tap the entry window, then you get a backspace.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Because calculators used to use paper, and clear entry basically invalidated the line.

This kept the same interface for the really old paper calculator users.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226285302528

http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/busicom_141-pf.html the granddaddy of calculators, and the one the Intel 4004 processor was designed for.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

but we got digital typewriters that still used paper and those added the obvious functions like backspace and actual text editing tools, why didn't calculators progress the same?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks I was looking at the answer and thinking it didn't fit my memory. i'm sure most of mine were ACs. TBF with things like VPAM coming in the late 90s, you did have backspace and all sorts of stuff like that.

I still remember doing linear regression in a stats exam on i think a casio fx-115W something like that . Excellent calculator - but just no, it was time for some things to be on a real computer.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

That's why it never worked for me. I assumed CE was Clear Everything.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh my God. Me too!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

We three were on the same page.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I thought it was "Clear Eggs". Always cleared my eggs... 🤷‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 weeks ago

Should be replaced with a backspace icon and a trash can icon

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago

You mean CE doesnt stand for "clear everything"? And here I thought more letters meant more clearing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

But sometimes CE is "Clear Everything" and it works exactly the opposite way.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This person calculates.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

And it all depends on the calculator. The one right next to me only has a CE button and it acts as a C button. So not even the people making them know what they do sometimes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Shit. I thought it was clear and clear everything. I guess this is why I also push both buttons rapidly and make sure to just retype everything